And the cathedral:
The university:
Which has a collegiate system very similar to Cambridge's, and the architectural influences are clear - this is Knox college, Dunedin:
(And this is a picture of Jesus College chapel court - my own Cambridge college. Spot the difference!):
The city is full of hills though, rather unlike Cambridge, so lots more pedal power needed to bike around! It makes for some scenic views though, despite the amount of low cloud/fog...
Dunedin sits at the end of a fabulous natural harbour, one side of which is formed by the Otago Peninsula - a scenic area with amazing wildlife. The harbour can be seen below:
And tiny tracks wind through its hills. The sat nav got us rather lost at one point when it sent us down a non-existent road!
The peninsula harbours secluded bays, inlets and beaches, which are a favourite for rare wildlife. Fur seals, sea lions, albatross, little blue (or fairy) penguins, and the incredibly rare yellow-eyed penguin.
Sandfly Bay, with sweeping sand dunes, a favourite with most of the wildlife just mentioned:
Snoozing sea lions - just don't get to close or they might chase you!:
Fur seal posing on his rock:
A fur seal and perhaps a juvenile sea lion (shows the difference between them):
And a whole colony of fur seals - look closely, they are very rock-shaped!
One of the most special things about the peninsula is the nesting ground for Royal Albatross, the only mainland breeding site in the world. With a wingspan of around 3m, it is one of the largest flying birds in the world, although the Wandering Albatross is slightly larger. With my interest in gliding, I can't help but admire these birds, whose shape has been mimicked pretty accurately by modern sailplane designers. They achieve more than a 20:1 glide ratio and are legendary at soaring flight, making use of the southern winds in the famous 'roaring forties' latitudes to circumnavigate the globe many times over in their lifetime. They usually make use of dynamic soaring to cross the oceans, and cannot sustain flight by flapping alone, but when soaring they have a special locking mechanism in their wings allowing them to expend almost zero energy on flying!
I was fortunate to see one flying, using more classical slope soaring techniques to have a bit of fun over the nesting ground:
But to get a true sense of the size of the birds, this nesting albatross having its new hatched chick weighed gives a better sense of scale:
And last but certainly not least, the penguins of Otago. One farmer cleverly dug trenches across his beach, allowing visitors to walk through and observe the nesting yellow-eyed penguins from close quarters:
Adult yellow-eye:
And chicks. Some are still covered in down feathers, slowly exchanging them for their water-proof coats:
And the little blue penguins share the same nesting grounds. Only about 30cm high, this one has a chick with it if you look carefully:
A real highlight was watching the penguins coming up the beach after feeding all day. This is Pilots Beach:
And the little blues come in together in a 'raft' of many penguins, safety in numbers. The light levels were so low they have formed little penguin 'ghosts' as they dashed across the beach to the safety of the undergrowth!
And even more special, we sat down after they came ashore and allowed them to wander back to our burrows, several came right through the little group of watchers, and two walked right past us - not 10cm away!! It was so dark we could only just see them, and I'm not sure they saw us... Too dark for pictures though sadly.
